Haitian boat flips; at least 16 dead

25-foot craft carried 160; rescuers searching for 60.

25-foot craft carried 160; rescuers searching for 60.

May 05, 2007

SOUTH DOCK, Turks and Caicos Islands (AP) -- Every year, Haitians by the hundreds set off in rickety boats hoping to escape poverty by sneaking into the U.S. The perils became gruesomely apparent Friday when a crowded boat capsized, flinging migrants into shark-infested waters. Hours after the sailing vessel overturned in moonlit waters a half-mile from shore, rescuers had recovered more than a dozen bodies -- some with savage bite wounds -- and were searching for about 60 missing people. The Turks and Caicos government said the boat was carrying some 160 people and that 78 survivors -- 69 males and 9 females -- were rescued. Police have recovered 16 bodies, those of 13 females and three males, the government said. Some survivors were spotted by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter clinging to the hull of their overturned vessel, said Petty Officer Third Class Barry Bena. The chopper guided in a boat to get them. A Coast Guard cutter and a C-130 plane also were dispatched to join the search. The Coast Guard said its helicopter reported spotting about 20 corpses. An AP reporter saw about a dozen bodies, some with missing feet and limbs. Speaking through an interpreter, one of the survivors said the migrants were on a two-day journey from the northern Haitian town of Cap-Haitien to the Turks and Caicos when the overloaded boat was rocked by choppy waters off the coast. Some passengers panicked as lightning crackled overhead and caused the vessel to capsize, Wilke Pierre, 52, said. It could become the worst disaster in years to hit Haitian migrants, who jam into boats to attempt the treacherous journey. The boat that overturned Friday was only about 25 feet long. Survivors were taken to a detention center on Providenciales, the island that is the urban center of the Turks and Caicos and features an 18-hole golf course, resort hotels, bars and restaurants, and will be sent back to Haiti. The submerged boat was later towed to shore.